Rail anchor setter



April 15,1969 w. P.`M|LATH 3,438,335#v RAIL ANCHOR SETTER med Ju1y 13,1967 "sheet of e l April 15, 1,969 w. P. MCILRATH l 3,438,335

` RAILANCHOR sETTER Filed July 1s, 19e? sheet ,2 ore April 15, 1969 V w.P. MGILRATH 1 3,438,335

\ RAIL ANCHOR SETTR "Q l I A Filed July 13, 1967 r i sheet 3 of e 1% `\A(zo 04 lll April 15, 1969 w. P. MCILRATH RAIL ANCHOR SETTER sheet `of sFiled July 13, 1967 Z) 4 ,N Z f a l. z :m 6 @Z www? wl j UO Il 4M, i 2 4Q 0 a t 6070 wm. M M j 6 f 7 5 W7 'M a 2 0 /m @y M 4 llw nf.. 49\W%6 IH2 ig@ m L 4M y Q M 0 ww/ MH wf w w. P. MCILRATH RAIL ANCHOR SETTERApri; 15, 1969 Sheet Filed July 13, `1967 4 `sheet` 6 orew. P; MCILRATHRAIL ANCHOR SENER April 15, 1969 Filed July 13. 196k? United StatesPatent Office 3,438,335 Patented Apr. 15, 1969 3,438,335 RAIL ANCHORSETTER William P. McIlrath, Racine, Wis., assignor to Racine Hydraulics& Machinery, Inc., a corporation of Wisconsin Filed July 13, 1967, Ser.No. 653,207 Int. Cl. E01b 29/32, 9/38 U.S. Cl. 104-2 15 Claims ABSTRACTOF THE DISCLOSURE A rail anchor setter including a magazine forreceiving a plurality of rail anchors to be located on rails adjacentrail supporting ties, an anchor setting means, a feeder associated withthe magazine for feeding the anchor from the magazine to the anchorsetting means, the latter receiving the anchor from the feeder andapplying the same to the rail and including a means for boxing theanchors applied to the rail about a tie.

Background of the invention In the construction and repair of railroadrights-ofway, rail anchors are customarily applied to rails to precludethe same from walking relative to the rights-ofway due to accelerationor deceleration of trains travelling upon the rails and to resistexpansion and contraction of the rails. Many types of rail anchors arein existence, and each operates on the basic principle of a spring clipconnected to the base of a rail adjacent atie whereby the tie precludesthe rail anchor from moving in one direction while the frictional forcebetween the rail anchor and the rail precludes the rail from movingrelative to the rail anchor.

`Depending upon the railroad involved, rail anchors may be placed eitheron one side of a tie or on both sides of a tie. In the latter case, therail anchors are customarily boxed firmly adjacent both sides of the tieto thereby resist rail movement in either direction relative to the tie.In the former case, the anchors snugly abut the ties, and at periodicintervals, the side of the tie on which the rail anchors are located ischanged.

Because of the tremendous forces developed when a train accelerates ordecelerates, or when the rails expand or contract, it will be apparentthat the rail anchor must exert a great deal of frictional holding forceon the rail in order to hold the same and preclude it from walking.Because the rail anchors are, in essence, spring clips, it will beapparent that a great deal of force is required to appropriately placethem on a rail.

In the past, Workmen were employed to drive the anchor onto a rail withsledge hammers or the like. Because of the large work force required forsuch duties, the prior art restorted to the use of anchor applicatorsthat travel along the rails and finally located anchors on the railsafter the anchors had been previously, preliminarily positioned on therail by workmen.

Of course, this latter approach still required the use of a significantWork force, and, as a result, mechanisms were devised for travellingalong the rails to preliminarily locate :an anchor on the rail so thatit could be subsequently nally located by already known mechanism.

Such anchor Setters leave a great deal to be desired as anchor settingoperation is still, essentially, a manual operation in that the settingmechanism is merely a tool mounted on a vehicle and the tool has to beloaded and manipulated manually by the operator thereof. As a resnlt,the operation cannot be accomplished as efliciently as is desired.

Summary of the invention It is the principal object of the invention toprovide a new and improved anchor setter.

More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide .ananchor setter that will set anchors on rails without manualmanipulations of the parts thereof with the exception of the operationof control devices.

Another object is the provision of an anchor setter including a magazinemeans for receiving a plurality of rail anchors to be located on railsadjacent rail supporting ties, feeder means associated with the magazinefor feeding the anchors on the magazine means to a predeterminedlocation, and a means movable between predetermined location on a pointadjacent the rail for receiving a rail anchor from the feeder means andfor setting the anchor so received on the rail.

A further object of the invention is the provision of an anchor settersuch as .that set forth in the preceding paragraph wherein the receivingand setting means simultaneously locate a pair of anchors on either sideof a tie supporting the rail and are provided for boxing the anchorsabout the tie.

A still further object is the provision of an anchor setter such as thatset forth above wherein the magazine means includes a pair of members onwhich rail anchors may be hung and t-he feeder means includes means forvibrating the members on which the rail anchors are hung to feed thesame to the predetermined location, and the setting Vmeans is operativeto receive and grip rail anchors received `from the magazine means asfed by the feeder means to move the same to the rail and apply theanchors thereto.

An additional object is the provision of an anchor setter such as thatset forth above wherein the various mechanisms thereof are of sturdyconstruction and of simple character so as to be extremely durable andeasily serviceable.

Another object is the provision of an anchor setter such as that setforth above further including various interlock means `for precludingimproper operation of the anchor setter that could damage the same.

Yet another object is the provision of an anchor setter having a controlsystem that controls operation of the setter such that the act ofsetting vanchors on a rail will not cause previously set anchors on therail to be disturbed.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the followingspecication taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Description of the drawings FIG. l is a perspective view of an anchorsetter made according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the anchor setting mechamsm;

FIG. 3 is a vertical section of the anchor setting mechanism takenapproximately along the line 3 3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a vertical section taken approximately along the line 4 4 ofFIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary vertical section showing a portion of themechanism in a stage of operation subsequent lto that illustrated inFIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary vertical section illustrating the mechanism in astage of operation subsequent to that shown in FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a vertical section of a portion of an arm mechansm.

General description` The instant invention contemplates a rail anchorsetter having a magazine capable of holding a plurality of rail anchorstogether with means for feeding the rail anchors from the magazine to ameans which sets, and if desired, boxes the rail anchors on a rail.

Various mechanisms interrelate the above mentioned means so thattransfer of anchors from the magazine to the feeding means and then tothe setting means together with the actual setting will take placewithout requiring manual manipulation of the anchors except to theextent that the magazine requires periodic reloading of rail anchors.The operations are effected semi-automatically with an operator requiredmerely to operate controls of the mechanism.

Two magazines are provided and are formed of sloped plates on which therail anchors may be hung. Vibrating means are used to vibrate the plateswhereby the anchors will advance down the slope. At the lowermos-t endsof the magazine plates there are provided a pair of anchor elevatorswhich receive the anchors from the magazines and lower the same to apredetermined location whereat the anchors are discharged from theelevators and dropped on-to a pair of applicator arms.

The anchors thus received by the applicator arms are gripped thereon bygripping means and the applicator arms are pivoted to a locationadjacent the rail to place the anchors on the base thereof. A hydrauliccylinder applies sufficient force to the applicator arm such that theanchors are partially set on the face of the rail. Additionally, meansare provided for moving the applicator arms towards each other so thatwhen they are disposed on opposite sides of a tie, lthe resultingmovement will box the anchors about the tie.

Subsequently, the applicator arms are then moved apart and pivotedupwardly to a point adjacent the elevator to receive the next set ofanchors. During this time, the operator may move the vehicle on whichthe anchor setter is mounted to the location of the next tie so thatanchors may be set and boxed on the rail adjacent the tie.

Of course, if desired, only one of the applicator arms may be loadedwith an anchor at any given time so that only one anchor is appliedadjacent a particular tie and the boxing operation may be repeated eventhough only one anchor is to be set in order to cause the anchor tofirmly abut the tie.

Once the anchors have been preliminarily set and/or boxed, means knownin the art may be utilized to finally set the anchors on the rail.

Detailed description An exemplary embodiment of a rail anchor setterma'de according to the invention is illustrated in FIG. 1 and is seen toinclude a rectangular frame, generally designated 10, rotatably mountinga plurality of wheels 12 which may rest on the rails of a railroadright-ofway. The frame additionally mounts a gasoline engine 14 and ahydraulic pump 16 that is driven by the engine 14 for the purpose ofproviding power in the form of hydraulic uid under pressure to fluidmotors (not shown) thrlgh a valve mechanism having an operator 18 fordriving the wheels 12. Hydraulic fluid also may be applied to acentrally located jack 20 which may be used to elevate the entireapparatus for the purpose of removing it from the rails or for changingits direction on the rails. Additionally, the fluid under pressureprovided by the pump 16 is used to operate the anchor setting mechanismas will appear.

The frame 10 is made of a plurality of tubular members that are joinedas by welding in a fluid tight manner such that the interior of thetubular members may be used as the reservoir for the hydraulic fluidrequired by the pump 16.

There is also provided an auxiliary, hand operated hydraulic pump 22which may be used in the event of a failure in the engine 14 or the pump16 and the braking mechanism generally designated 23 having an operator24 which may be used to firmly hold the vehicle at a desired location onthe rails during an anchor setting 4 operation. A suitable seat, notshown, may be located on the frame 10 in a position that, with referenceto FIG. 1, would obscure the jack 20 and operators 25 for a hydraulicsystem that controls the anchor setting operation are located Withineasy reach of the seat.

The anchor setting mechanism is located adjacent one side of the frame10 and includes a pair of magazines, generally designated 26 and 27,which may receive a plurality of rail anchors 28. The magazine 26comprises an elongated sloped plate upon the upper edge of which therail anchor 28 may be hung while the magazine 27 includes a similarplate 31. In order to preclude undue wear of the plates 30 and 31, theupper edges thereof may be provided with strips 32 of hardened steel.

A feeder mechanism, generally designated 34, is associated with themagazines 26 and 27 in a manner to be described in greater detailhereinafter for receiving the rail anchors 28 in the magazines 26 and 27and for moving the same to a predetermined location within the generalconfines of the frame 10 where the anchors are received by applicatorarms which, in turn, move the rail anchors 28 from the predeterminedpoint and locate the same on a rail.

In general, when rail anchors are applied to rails, an anchor is placedon each side of a tie and forced into place to anchor the rail withrespect to the tie. To serve this end, the two magazines 26 and 27 areprovided and the feeding means 34 is adapted to provide two anchors at atime to the setting mechanism which places the anchors on opposite sidesof the tie. However, certain railroads place anchors only on one side ofthe tie and it is to be understood that the machine made according tothe invention may be used in such an instance merely failing to load oneof the magazines or by disabling the portion of the feeder mechanism 34that is associated with one of the magazines.

Turning now to FIG. 2, the magazines 26 and 27 and the feeder mechanism34 will be explained in greater detail. Since the feeder mechanism 34includes two sections, one for each of the two anchors that may beplaced on the rail, and one section is the mirror image of the other,only one will be described.

The upper magazine plate 30 is supported at one end on a stand 38 whichis bifurcated to pass about the sides of the lower magazine plate 31 sothat rail 'anchors 28 on the lower magazine plate 31 can pass betweenthe legs thereof. Similarly, the lower magazine plate 31 is alsosupported on the underside of the stand 28 and the latter is in turnconnected through a vibration isolator 40 which may be formed of rubberor the like to an angle bracket 42 secured to the frame 10.

A stand 43 similar to the stand 38 is located between the ends of theplates 30 and 31 and is also secured to the frame by means of a rubberisolator 44.

The rightmost end of the upper plate 30 as viewed in FIG. 2 includesstill another stand 46 which likewise is secured to the frame 10 bymeans of a rubber isolator 48 and which depends from the lower extremityof the magazine plate 30 a substantial distance to support a plate whichforms a continuation of the upper magazine 26 as will be seen.

lBoth of the magazine plates 30 and 31 slope gently from left to rightas viewed in FIG. 2 while the plate 50 slopes from right to left asviewed in FIG. 2. A conventional vibrating mechanism 49 driven by ahydraulic motor .(not shown) which is powered bythe pump 16 (FIG. 1) 1sconnected to the upper magazine plate 30 to vibrate the same., By virtueof the connection between the upper magazine plate 30 and the lowermagazine plate 31 as well as the plate 50 through the stands 38, 42 and46, the vibration imparted to the upper magazine plate 30 by thevibrator 49 will be transmitted to the lower magazine plate 31 :and theplate 50 but will be isolated from the frame 10 by virtue of the.isolators 40, 44 and 48. Because of the slope of the plates forming themagazines,

it will be apparent that rail anchors 28 on the upper and lower magazineplates 30 and 31 will travel from left to right as viewed in FIG. 2while rail anchors 28 on the plate will tra-vel from right to left asviewed in FIG. 2.

In order to transport rail anchors 28 from the upper magazine plate 30to the plate 50, an elevating mechanism generally designated 51 isprovided. As seen 'in FIG. 1, the elevating mechanism 51 comprises apair of upright tubes 52 mounted on the frame 10 so as to be subject tothe action of the vibrator 49. The tubes 52 mount a rotatable sheave `53at their upper ends. One of the tubes 52 includes a movable weight (notshown) within its confines while the other tube 52 includes a slot 54 inits periphery.

As seen in FIG. 2, an elevator plate is mounted for reciprocal movementwithin the slot 54 between a first position wherein it will receive arail anchor 28 from the plate 30 and a second position wherein it willlower the rail anchor 28 to a point adjacent the plate 50. A chain (notshown) is strung about the sheave S3 (FIG. 1) and interconnects theweight (not shown) and the plate 5S. The weight is selected so thatnormally the plate 55 will be in the first mentioned position forreceiving a rail anchor 28 from the plate 30. However, when a railanchor is disposed on the plate 5S, the weight of the same will causethe plate 55 to be lowered to the second position to dispose the railanchor 28 adjacent the plate 50.

The operation of the vibrating means 49 will then cause the rail anchor28 to be vibrated from the plate 5S onto the plate 50 and when such hasoccurred, the weight (not shown) will raise the plate 55 to the firstmentioned position.

When the plate 55 is lowered to a nail anchor 28 to the plate 50, a stop57 pivotally mounted on the slotted one of the tubes 52 will be loweredto preclude movement of rail anchors 28 from the plate 30. The stop 57includes a prong-like cam member 59 which is adapted to engage the uppersurface of the plate 55. Thus, when the plate 55 is in its upperposition, the stop 57 will be cammed upwardly as shown in FIG. 2 topermit a rail anchor 28 to be fed into the plate 55. As the plate S5 islowered, the stop 57 will pivot downwardly to dispose itself in the pathof rail anchors 28 remaining on the plate 30.

The feeder means 34 is located between the rightmost end of the lowermagazine plate 31 and the leftmost end of the plate 50 to receive therail anchors 28 directed thereto from the plates 31 and 50 and lower therail anchors so received to a point below that shown in FIG. 2. Duringsuch lowering, a stop member 56 is moved into a location to block thenext rail anchor 28 on the magazine plate until such time as the feedingmechanism 34 is conditioned to receive it.

Turning now to FIGS. 3 and 4, the nature of the feeding means 34 will bedescribed. As best seen in FIG. 3, there is provided a pair of closelyspaced vertically arranged guide plates 60 and, as seen in FIG. 4, thereis a slidably mounted elevator plate 62 mounted for movementtherebetween. The elevator plate 62 includes a tongue 64 at its upperend which is directed toward the magazine plate from which it is toreceive rail anchors and a pair of bolts 66 which `are received withinguide slots 68 in the guide plates 60. The slots 68 are generallyvertically arranged and include a straight run at their upper end and anarcuate run at their lower end so as to guide movement of the elevatorplate 62 in a generally straight path at its uppermost position and inan arcuate path near a lowermost position while maintaining the tongue64 of the plate 62 in a generally horizontal plane.

The arrangement of the slots 68 in the guide plates 60 with respect tothe elevator plate 62 and the tongue 64 thereof is such that during theupper portion of the path of movement of the elevator plate 62 thetongue 64 will project outwardly from the edge of the guide plates 60 tosupport an anchor whereas at the lower portion of the path of travel ofthe elevator plate 62, the tongue 64 will be withdrawn to be entirelywithin the contines of the guide plates 60. Such withdrawal of thetongue 64 takes place to allow a rail anchor to be engaged by anapplicator arm as will be described.

The stop member 56 is pivotally mounted by a pivot pin 70 passingthrough the upper ends of the guide plates 60 and includes a blockingelement 72 on. the end thereof that is adjacent and generally transverseto the corresponding magazine plate from which the tongue `64 willreceive rail anchors. The underside of the stop member 56 includes adepending projection '74 which is adapted to engage the upper surface ofthe elevator plate 62 to cause the stop member to be pivoted upwardlyand out of a blocking position whenever the elevator plate 62 is in anuppermost position to receive an anchor from the associated magazine.The end of the stop member 56 opposite the blocking portion 72 is biasedupwardly by a spring 76 interposed between the end of the stop member 56and a hook 718 which is welded to the upper end of a vertical bar 80welded to the guide plate 60. The bar 80 additionally supports a sleeve82 which in turn journals a pivot pin 84 which is pivotally received. inf-rame members 86 secured to the main frame 10 as generally indicated inFIG. 3. Thus, the feeder mechanism 34 is pivotally mounted In order tolimit movement of the feeder means 34, a stop and guide bar 88 ismounted on the upper surface of a member 90 also secured to the mainframe 10. The bar 88 projects a substantial distance therefrom betweenabutting edges of the guide plates 60 forming each section of the feedermechanism 34 and a block 92 is mounted transversely thereon on the sideof the feeder mechanism 34 adjacent the applicator arms. Thus, as viewedin FIG. 3, the feeder mechanism 34 cannot swing about the pivotal axisprovided by pin 84 past a vertical position in the counterclockwisedirection but can move in a clockwise direction a substantial distance.The purpose of this arrangement is to allow free movement of the feedermechanism 34 to preclude damage thereto in the event the applicator armsstrike the feeder mechanism' 34 with substantial force.

The mounting plate 80l also rotatably mounts a sheave 94 about which achain 96 is trained. One end of the chain 96 is secured to the upper oneof the bolts 66 of the elevator plate 62 while the other end `of thechain is secured to a spring 98 which is fastened to the frame memberS6. An intermediate portion of the chain 96 is connected slid-ably to aspring 100 which is secured to an applicator arm 102 that appliesanchors 28y to a rail R as illustrated in FIG. 3. The manner in whichthe applicator arm 102 so operates will be described in greater detailhereinafter.

The position of the applicator arm 102 controls the position of theelevator plate 62 vwithin the guide slots 68 of the guide plates 60.Specifically, when the applicator arm 182 is in an anchor lapplyingposition as indicated in FIG. 3, the elevator plate 62 will be at itsuppermost position so that the stop member 56 will be lifted to allow arail anchor 28 from the corresponding magazine plate to be received onthe tongue 64. After a rail Ianchor 28 has been applied by theapplicator arm 102, the latter will be m0v`e=d in a generally clockwisedirection as will be seen hereiafter upwardly to a point adjacent thefeeder mechanism 34 to receive another rail anchor 28 for subsequentapplication. Such clockwise movement of the applicator arm 102 willresult in the lowering of the elevator plate 62 and thus the rail anchor28 supported thereby to a predetermined point whereat the rail anchor 28will be transferred to the applicator arm 102.

In order to locate the rail anchor 28 .at the predetermined point forpositive transfer to the applicator arm 102, a retarding means isarranged adjacent the slot 68 in which the uppermost one of the bolts 66is received. The retarding mechanism is best illustrated in FIGS. 3 and5 and is seen to comprise an L-shaped member 104 projecting upwardlyfrom the cross member 90. An eX- tremity lof the L-shaped arm 104 mountsa depending spring 106 which in turn mounts a chain 108 connected to anL-shaped arm 110 that is pivotally mounted at 112 to the underside ofthe cross member 90. An adjustable engaging member in the form of athreaded bolt 114 is also supported by the arm 110. The arrangement issuch that when the elevator plate 62 descends within the slot 68, theuppermost one of the bolts 66 Will engage the leftmost end of the plate110` as viewed in FIG. 3. The spring 106 is chosen such that thecombined weight of the rail anchor 28 supported by the elevator plate 62and the elevator plate 62 is insufficient to cause the arm 110 to pivotabout the .axis 112 in a counterclockwise direction so that the elevatorplate 62 will be maintained in such a position by the bias of the spring106.

With reference to the shape of the slots 68, the position in which theelevator plate 62 is retained by the arm 110 is located just beforearcuate movement `of the elevator plate 62 is initiated by the arcuateportions of the slots 68.

As seen in FIG. 5, when the applicator arm 102 is rotated in alclockwise direction to receive a rail anchor 28 from the elevator plate62, a surface ofthe arm 102 will engage the adjustable engagement member114 to pivot the arm 110 in a counterclockwise direction about the axis112 such that the bar 110 will no longer engage the bolt 66 and theelevator plate 62 will descend further under the influence of gravity.At this time, the transfer of the rail anchor 28 from the elevator plate62 to the applicator arm 102 will occur with the elevator plate 62moving arcuately to withdraw the tongue 64 from the rail anchor 28.

In `order to insure proper movement of the rail anchors while engagedwith the tongue 64 of the elevator .plate 62, and during transfer of theanchor to the applicator arm 102, guide means are provided. As seen inFIGS. 3 and 4,

one of the guide plates 60 includes a ange 120 which is generallytransverse to .the main body of the associated plate 60. Near the upperand lower extremity of the ange 120 there is provided a pair of boxshaped brackets 122 which house springs 124 which project throughapertures in the flange 120 to abut a guide plate 126 which faces themagazine plate associated with the elevator plate 62. The box shapedbrackets 122 each include an aperture through which a threaded member128 projects. Each threaded member 128 is secured to the guide plate 126and additionally includes .a nut 130 thereon for adjustment purposes. Bychanging the positions of the nuts 130 on their respective threadedmembers 128, the position of the guide plate 126 with respect to theange 120 may be varied against the bias of the springs 124 to adjust theexposed length of the tongue 64 to accommodate the width of any giventype of rail anchor.

Also provided are L-shaped guide means 132 which are secured by bolts134 4to the flanges 120. The guide means 132 are angularly related withrespect to the vertical and have ends directed inwardly toward the paththrough which a rail anchor 28 will descend when supported by theelevator plate 62 so as to cause a rail anchor to be snugly directedagainst the plates 126. Thus, proper orientation of .a rail anchor 28upon delivery to the predetermined point whereat it is transfered to theapplicator arm 102 is assured.

The nature of the applicator arms 102 will now be described in greaterdetail in conjunction with FIGS. 2, 3, 4 and 6. As seen in FIG. 2, theframe includes an upper side member 140 which mounts a pair of spacedplates 142. The spaced plates 142 extend outwardly from the frame member140 and downwardly as viewed in FIG. 3, and in turn, adjustably supporta mounting member 144. The plates 142 have a lower extremity includingelongated slots 146 for the receipt of bolts 148 and nuts 150 whichextend through circular apertures (not shown) in the mounting member144. As a result, the location of the mounting member 144 with respectto the plates 142 may be varied simply by loosening the nuts 150 on thebolts 148 and shifting the mounting member 144 to the desired locationand then retightening the nuts 150.

Returning to FIG. 2, the frame 10 also includes a pair of spaced,upright members 154 on opposite sides of the applicator arms 102. Eachof the upright members 154 is hollow, generally rectangular in form andthe facing sides of the upright members 154 include a pair of upright,spaced guide bars 156 as best seen in FIG. 3. A movable plate 158 abutseach upright member 154 between the guide bars 156 and, at its lowerend, mounts an outwardly extending support plate 160. Bolts 162 extendthrough the plate 158 and through slots (not shown) in the uprightmember 154 to be threaded into bores (not shown) in a plate 163 (shownonly in FIG. 7) within the interior of the tube forming the uprightmember 154. Thus, by loosening the bolts 162, the position of the plate15'8 with respect to the upright member 154 may be selectively varied.

As will become apparent hereinafter, the just described means foradjusting the height of the mounting member 144 and the plates 158serves to adjust the height of the applicator arms 102 when in tneanchor applying position so that the anchor setter may be used to setanchors on various rails having differing top to `bottom dimensions.

The outwardly extending mounting plate mounts the end of shafts 162 and164. The shafts 162 and 164 additionally extend through apertures andare supported by the mounting member 144 as Viewed in FIG. 3. Thus,through appropriate manipulation of the bolts 162 as well as the nuts150, the vertical attitude of the shafts 162 and 164 may be varied.

The shaft 164 pivotally mounts the upper end of each of the applicatorarms 102 as illustrated in FIG. 3. Thus, the applicator arms 102 may bemoved from a position adjacent the `feeding mechanism for receiving railanchors therefrom to the position illustrated in FIG. 3 Whereat a railanchor will be applied to a rail R.

In order to move the applicator arms 102 between the two positions, adouble acting hydraulic cylinder having an end pivotally connected as at172 to the frame 10 and a piston rod 174 pivotally connected to theapplicator arm 102 at 176 is provided. The arrangement is such that whenthe cylinder 170 has its piston rod 174 extended, the applicator arms102 will be in an anchor applying position (FIG. 3) whereas when thepiston rod 174 of the cylinder 170 is retracted, the applicator arms 102twill be in a rail anchor receiving position (FIG. 6).

Near the lower end of each applicator arm 102 is mounted a rail anchorreceiving foot which is direoted toward the opposite applicator arm 102.Also provided is a retractable pin 182 which is normally spring biasedby means not shown to the position illustrated in FIG. 4. However, aswill appear, when a rail anchor is to be received from the magazine bythe applicator arm, the pin 182 is caused to be projected inwardlytoward the opposite applicator arm 102 against the spring bias toprovide a partial support for a rail anchor as shown in FIG. 3.

Each of the applicator arms 102 additionally mounts a small hydrauliccylinder 184 that is pivotally mounted to the applicator arm at 186 andincludes a piston rod 188. The piston rod 188 is pivotally connected at190 to an L-shaped retaining or gripping arm 192 which operates inconjunction with the retractable pin 182 to hold a rail anchor 28 to theapplicator arm 102 when the latter is moved from the rail anchorreceiving position to a rail anchor applying position. The L-shapedretaining arm 192 has its shorter length pivotally connected at 194 tothe applicator arm 102. Thus, when the piston rod 188 is retracted, theretaining arm 192 -will be swung in a clockwise direction from theposition illustrated in FIG. 3 to the position shown in FIG. 6 whilewhen the piston 188 is extended, the L-shaped retaining arm 192 will bemoved into the position illustrated in FIG. 3 to cause a rail anchor 28to be pinched between the retractable pin 182 and the retaining armthereby holding the rail anchor 128 in transit.

As best seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, cam means are provided for moving theretractable pin 182 from the position illustrated in FIG. 4 to aposition wherein it will cooperate with the retaining arm 192 to supporta rail anchor.

Specifically, diagonal cam plates 200 are provided to engage the outerextremities of the retractable pins 182 during upward movement of theapplicator arms 102. Continued movement of the applicator arm 102 to theposition shown in FIG. 6 will cause the cam surfaces to force theretractable pins 182 towards each other to project through the facingsurfaces of the applicator arms 102 when the applicator arms 102 are intheir upwardmost or anchor` receiving position. At this point, themagazine will provide a rail anchor for each applicator arm 102 whichwill be hooked over the retractable pin 182 at which time, the cylinder184 will be energized to cause the retaining arm 192 to be swung intothe position illustrated in FIG. 3 relative to the pin 182 therebyfirmly clamping and retaining the rail anchor 28. When the applicatorarm 102 is moved downwardly, at some point in the downward travel thecam plates 200 will no longer engage the retractable pins 182 but, dueto the clamping force provided by retaining arm and the friction betweenthe rail anchor 28 and the retractable pins 182, the latter will remainin supporting contact with the rail anchors 28. During such movement,the presence of the foot 180, which tends to underlie the rail anchor 28as illustrated in FIG. 3, serves to maintain the rail anchor 28 in apredetermined angular relation with respect to the pin 182 such that therail anchor 28 will not twist about the latter due to its own weight toinsure proper orientation of the anchor for application to a rail R.

In order to set the precise angular relationship of the arm 102 withrespect to the pivot 164 to define the rail anchor receiving positionillustrated in FIG. 6, the bolt 210 is threaded through a nut 212 weldedto the upper side of the cross member 90, which it will be recalled,additionally mounts the elevator plate retarding means. The cross bar 90includes a vertical aperture extending therethrough `such that the bolt210 may project below the underside of the cross member 90 to engage theupper surface of the arm 102. By adjustment of the bolt 210 with respectto the nut 212, Ithe position of the lower end of the bolt 210 may bechanged to select the clockwisemost position of the arm 102.

Preferably, the arrangement is such that the arm 102, in itsclockwisemost position as viewed in FIG. 6 Iwill dispose the retractablepin 182 at a location about two inches below the point at which theelevator plate 62 will fully release the rail anchor 28. Thus, the railanchor 28 will drop about two inches prior to engagement with theretractable pin 182.

As mentioned previously, an anchor setter made according to theinvention is not only capable of applying anchors to the rails, butadditionally will box the anchors about a tie. The boxing mechanism maybe best understood from a consideration of FIGS. 2 and 7.

As seen in FIG. 7, the applicator arms 102 are mounted on sleeves 220lwh'ich are journalled by the shaft 164. Thus, the applicator arms 102may rotate about the shaft 164 and may slide longitudinally thereon.

As seen in FIG. 2, a hydraulic cylinder 222 having a piston rod 224 isdisposed between the applicator arms 102 with the piston rod 224connected to one of the arms and the cylinder 222 connected to the otherof the arms. The cylinder 222 is double acting and as a result, it canbe caused to move the arms 102 toward or away from each other. When thearms 102 are moved toward each other under the influence of the cylinder222, the rail anchors supported on the feet 180 are moved towards eachother and boxed about a tie T as illustrated in the dotted line positionin FIG. 2. As will become apparent hereinafter, such boxing will becompleted when the applicator arms 102 are in a rail anchor applyingposition such as that illustrated in FIG. 3 but may be initiated priorto that time.

Since the sleeves 220 are freely slidable upon the shaft 164, it isdesirable to provide some means for restoring the arms 102 to a positionwherein they are symmetrical about the point of attachment of the pistonrod 174 to the shaft 176. For this purpose, the shaft 176 mounts a pairof springs 226 of equal strength which are disposed to be interposedbetween a respective one of the applicator arms 102 and a connectingblock 228 which connects the piston rod 174 to the shaft 176. Thesprings 226 tend to restore the applicator arms 102 to a rnost spacedposition wherein each of the applicator arms 102 is the same distancefrom the piston rod 174 as the other.

During the boxing operation, the applicator arms 102 are moved towardeach other, and in fact, tightly clamp about a tie and it is highlydesirable to provide means that will not permit pivoting of theapplicator arms 102 about the shaft 164 from the anchor applyingposition until the boxing operation is completed and the arms 102` areat least partially restored to the position shown in FIG. 7. To thisend, one of the applicator arms 102 includes a bracket 230 to which ashaft 232 is secured. The shaft 232 is directed toward the otherapplicator arm 102 and passes slidably through an aperture in anL-shaped member 234 secured to the other applicator arm 102 and whichadditionally mounts a valve 236 having an actuator 238. As viewed inFIG. 7, the rightmost end of the shaft 32 has secured thereto anactuating element 240 which is adapted to abut the actuator 238 of thevalve 236.

The valve 236 is of a normally closed variety, and, as a result, whenthe applicator arms 102 are in the position shown relative to the pistonrod 174 as seen in FIG. 7, the actuating element 240 will cause, throughcontact with the actuator 238, the valve 236 to be opened therebypermitting the flow of hydraulic fluid to the cylinder through ahydraulic line not shown. However, -when the arms 102 are moved towardseach other, the valve 236 will be moved to the left as seen in FIG. 7while the actuating element 240 will be moved to the right as viewed inFIG. 7 and the valve 236 will revert to its nornormally closed conditionthereby preventing the application of fluid to the fluid cylinder 170precluding pivotal movement of the arms 102 about the shaft 164.

A number of other controls are provided to insure smooth operation ofthe apparatus. For example, when the applicator arms 102 are movingdownwardly from the anchor receiving position to the anchor applyingposition, if the boxing operation is started at too early in instant,the applicator arms 102 may strike the tie 4before the anchors have beenapplied to the rail. On the other hand, if boxing `is initiated onlywhen the arms 102 have reached the anchor applying position, time may bewasted. Thus, it is desirable to cause operation of the cylinder 222,which provides for the boxing action, at a time when the applicator arms102 have moved toward the anchor applying position but before they reachthe same. To this end, an elongated cam 242 is secured to an adustablecollar 244 which in turn is secured to one of the sleeves 220 such thatthe cam 242 will rotate with the applicator arms 102.

A valve 246 having an actuator 248 in contact with the cam 242 issecured to one of the plates 160. The valve 246 may be .in the hydrauliccircuit of the cylinder 222 to preclude actuation thereof until theapplicator arms 102 have rotated downwardly a desired degree towards theanchor applying position. The purpose of the elongated nature of the cam242 is to insure cam contact with the actuator 248 for all positions ofthe applicator arms 102 with respect to the piston 174. By adjusting theangular position of the collar 244, and thus cam 424, on the sleeve 220,the boxing operation may be controlled to be initiated during themovement of the applicator arms 102 towards the anchor applying positionbut not so early 1 1 in the period of movement that the arms 102 wouldstrike the tie prior to reaching the anchor setting position.

It is also desirable to provide means for retarding the rate of movementof the applicator arms 102 as they approach the anchor applying positionso that anchors will not contact the rail with a great deal of forcethereby setting up vibrations which could cause previously set anchorsto become loosened to fall from the rail or which could knock an anchorout of the grip of the applicator arm 102. To this end, a cam 250similar to the cam 242 is also adjustably secured by a collar 252 to theother one of t'he sleeves 220. A normally open snubbing valve 254includes an actuator 256 which rides on the cam 2511. Preferably, thevalve 254 is closed when the applicator arms have been rotatedsufciently to bring them in close proximity to a rail and the valve 254may be placed in the main hydraulic line associated with the cylinder171i. To complete movement of the applicator arms 102 to the anchorapplying position after the closing of the snubber valve 254, a by-passcircuit for the valve 254 is provided and includes an orifice ofsufficiently small size to reduce the speed of movement of theapplicator arms 102 to a desired rate.

I claim:

1. A rail anchor setter comprising:

(a) a magazine means for receiving a plurality of rail anchorspreparatory to being located on rails adjacent rail supporting ties andincluding a member on which rail anchors may be hung;

(b) feeder means associated with said magazine means for feeding saidanchors from said magazine means to a predetermined location andincluding means for vibrating said member; and

(c) means movable between said predetermined location and a pointadjacent a rail for receiving a rail anchor from said feeder means andfor placing the anchor so received on the rail and including means forgripping a rail anchor as said movable means moves from saidpredetermined location to said point adjacent a rail.

2. The rail anchor setter of claim 1 further including second magazinemeans, said feeder means further being operative to simultaneously feedinto two rail anchors for simultaneous application on both sides of atie supporting a rail.

3. The rail anchor setter of claim wherein said movable means furtherincludes means for `moving an anchor laterally on a rail to snugly abuta tie supporting the rail.

4. The rail anchor setter of claim 3 wherein said movable means comprisean arm movable in a vertical direction to transport an anchor from saidpredterrnined location to a rail and movable in a horizontal directionto cause the anchor to snugly abut a tie; and means for precludingmovement of said arm in said vertical direction when said arm ishorizontally positioned to cause an anchor to snugly abut a tie.

5. The rail anchor setter of claim 1 further including means for movingsaid movable means and means for retarding the speed of movement of saidmovable means as it approaches said point adjacent a rail.

y6. A rail anchor setter comprising:

(a) la member on which rail anchors may be hung;

(b) means associated with said members `for advancing rail anchors inone direction thereon;

(c) a reciprocal elevator positionable at one end of said member andhaving a rail anchor supporting surface onto which a rail anchor may bedeposited from said member, and positionable at a point whereat a railanchor on said supporting surface will be released therefrom;

(d) an applicator arm positionable at said point to receive the railanchor released from said elevator and movable to a position to applythe rail anchor so received to a rail;

(e) means for moving said applicator arm; and

(f) means responsive to movement of said applicator arm for positioningsaid elevator.

7. The rail anchor setter of claim 6 wherein said member comprises asloped plate.

8. The rail anchor setter of claim 6 wherein said advancing meanscomprises a vibrator.

9. The rail anchor setter of claim 6 wherein said elevator comprises aplate and said supporting surface comprises a tongue on said plate, andmeans for causing said tongue to be withdrawn from a rail anchor as saidplate approaches said point.

10. The rail anchor setter of claim 6 wherein said elevator includesmeans for guiding a rail anchor in a substantially linear path, andmeans for moving said supporting surface away from said linear path assaid supporting surface approaches said point.

11. A rail anchor setter comprising magazine means for storing aplurality of rail anchors to be applied to rails adjacent railsupporting means; means for receiving `rail anchors from said magazinemeans and for applying the same to rails, said receiving and applyingmeans including a shaft and two relatively movable members, at least oneof said members comprising a unitary, rigid, L-shaped arm pivotally andslidably mounted on said shaft at one end thereof and having rail anchorsupporting means at the other end thereof, said mem-.

bers being adapted to be disposed on opposite sides of a tie; and meansfor relatively moving said members towards each other to cause a railanchor supported by said supporting means to snugly abut the tie as itis applied to the rail.

12. The rail anchor setter of claim 11 wherein the other of said twomembers includes a rail anchor supporting means whereby when both saidsupporting means are supporting a rail anchor, the rail anchors will beboxed about a tie when said moving means is operated.

13. The rail anchor setter of the claim 11 wherein said movable membersare slidably mounted on a shaft including an abutment located betweensaid movable members, a pair of springs of substantially equal force,each interposed between said abutment and one of said movable members;said moving means including an extendable element interposed betweensaid movable members.

14. The rail anchor setter of claim 11 wherein said one movable memberis movable between a rail anchor receiving position adjacent saidmagazine means and a rail anchor applying position adjacent a rail andmotor means for moving said one movable member between said positions;and means for disabling said motor means when said movable members arenot spaced a predetermined distance.

15. The rail anchor setter of claim 11 wherein said one movable memberis movable between a rail anchor receiving position adjacent saidmagazine means and a rail anchor applying position adjacent a rail andmotor means for moving said one movable member between said positions;and means operable at a predetermined point in the movement of said onemovable member `between said positions for enabling said moving means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,095,826 7/1963 Swanson.3,120,193 2/1964 Pettigrew et al. 3,127,847 4/ 1964 Sivon. 3,132,597 5/1964 Miller. 3,163,122 12/1964 Johnson. 3,272,148 9/ 1966 McIlrath.3,326,137 6/1967 McTighe et al.

ARTHUR L. LAPOINT, Primary Examiner.

